Suspected Car Thief Shot, Killed By Cop After High-speed Chase

A suspected car thief was shot to death by a police officer Monday night after a high-speed chase by Chicago police on the Kennedy Expressway, according to a police spokeswoman.

Details were slow to surface, but police sources said at least one officer fired his weapon after the suspect`s car overturned and landed on the Chicago & North Western tracks near the Diversey Parkway exit of the expressway.

Police had not identified the victim early Tuesday morning, nor had they determined which officer may have fired the fatal shot.

The suspect`s body, which was near a fence by the tracks parallel to the expressway, was removed from the scene at 10:10 p.m., nearly two hours after the chase ended. It is unknown whether the suspect was armed.

According to police spokeswoman Tina Vicini, the chase began when officers from the East Chicago District tactical unit spotted a teenager driving a stolen car near Orleans and Division Streets. The driver was accompanied by a young woman, who was questioned Monday night by the police youth division, Vicini said.

Members of the Cabrini-Green patrol, Shakespeare District tactical unit and the East Chicago District patrol pursued the car onto the expressway, she said.

At Diversey, the young man lost control of the car, which flipped over, she said. He escaped from the car and was chased by police up an embankment, she said.

One officer apparently grabbed the teenager, who kicked himself loose and continued to run, Vicini said. The officer`s partner fired three warning shots, and other officers chased the suspect, she said.

At that point, Vicini said, officers saw an object in the young man`s hand. Two or three shots were fired, one of which struck the suspect in the head.

After the incident, about 30 police officers searched the area with flashlights and maintained tight security around the site well after the suspect`s body was removed. Crime lab technicians also were on the scene.

In the meantime, officers involved in the chase met at Grand-Central Area headquarters with representatives of the Cook County medical examiner and the Cook County state`s attorney, as well as the department`s Office of Professional Standards, according to a police dispatcher.